Let’s fight for a doctor-assisted death law that reflects compassion and dignity, hallmarks of Sue Rodriguez’s life

By Svend RobinsonFeb. 11, 2019

While Sue Rodriguez would certainly have celebrated that great legal victory, which has given more than 4,000 Canadians the choice that she was denied, I know that she would also be deeply concerned that the Liberal government’s legislative response continues to fall far short of the objectives for which she fought with such passion and determination over 25 years ago.

Svend Robinson pictured with Sue Rodriguez in Victoria, B.C., on Sept. 30, 1993. Rodriguez, who unsuccessfully fought for the legal right to assisted death, died on Feb. 12, 1994, at the time of her choosing. Photograph courtesy of The Canadian Press/Ward Perrin

VANCOUVER—“The court may have spoken, but I have the last word.” That was Sue Rodriguez’s defiant response to the heartbreakingly close 5-4 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on Sept. 30, 1993, denying her request to have a doctor legally help her to end her life at the time of her choosing.

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